Team Associated SC10 reviewed in RRCi - CML Distribution

Electric Truckrrci featureAbove: Geared diff internals. Extra shims may be neededto get a good meshat the rear, and the front is held in place by two ‘T-clamps’, which takejust a quarter turn to lock the retainer onto the cells. So no more fiddlingaround with clips or thumb screws.STEERING/FRONT SUSPENSIONFirst thing up in the build is the steering assembly. And already this iswhere my first problem would arise. The majority of the assembly wenttogether OK, but I had big problems getting the servo saver adjustingbolt to fit on straight and true. It took a few attempts and I found itdifficult to do. So in the end I fitted the long steering bolt in first andused this as a guide to get the bolt to screw in straight. This workedfine and I don’t know why I didn’t try this method earlier.The steering pivots on bushes, but I feel bearings would have been anice touch, so remember not to tighten the steering bolts up too much orthe steering won’t do its job properly. It is the same steering set up that ison the B4 and T4 and can bind if over tightened.All this sits on the front bulkhead that holds the wishbones in place.The long wishbones are the ones used on the T4, and the SC10 also usesthe GT2 nitro truck’s front caster blocks, which are 25 degrees and holdthe trailing steering block via a steel kingpin, which is held in place with aretaining screw. Retaining screws also hold the pivot pins in place in theinner wishbone mount and the wishbones fitted brilliantly, dropping undertheir own weight without any modification at all. The front hinge pin braceis plastic, but can be upgraded to an aluminium version which I wouldrecommend, as it strengthens the front end and stops the bulkhead frombreaking in the event of an impact.BUMP IT UP!The front shock mountsare really tall, and aretopped off by a ‘crossbrace’to mount thebodyshell. In front of theshock mount is the frontbumper assembly, whichtotally overpowers the front endand it’s at this point you reallyget a feel for how large this kitis going to be. The bumpers aremade of a really soft plastic to helpabsorbthose moments when you are ‘rubbing’ with the other SC10’s on thetrack! Being soft plastic it makes them really easy to build and getting thescrews into them was a piece of cake. Supporting the front bumper is apretty large kicked up skid plate, so the SC10 looks like it will take someextreme angles when landing off of big jumps. The same plastic usedon the bumper is used for the ‘nerf bars’ that attach to the side of thechassis, which help support the sides of the bodyshell.GEARBOXSurprisingly for an electric truck the SC10 uses a nitro style geareddiff, while the ball diff from the B4 is an optional extra. The diffscontain two large sun gears and four smaller planetary gears.There are four shims, two for outside the diff that fit over thediff out drive and two that fit inside to space the gears correctly.After building the diff, I found it to be very notchy and generallyfeeling a bit rough. I re-built it 3-4 times and it still had the samefeeling. I decided to do some research and found out that the diffs haveindeed been a problem on some models and need two extra shims to helpspace the gears properly. CML have reassured us that future kits willinclude the shims and that they will provideshims for anyone if problemsoccur, assuring us that this isnot something that hashappened to all kitsand lots have gonetrouble free.Above: The extended SC10 chassis looks familiar, but islonger than the B4 and T4 it is based onThe rest of the gearbox is a work of art, proving through many yearsof top level competition to be a robust unit that you can just build andleave, it is just so reliable. To top the transmission off there is the slipperclutch to save the gearbox from the punishment of a rough track andlarge throttle inputs. The instructions give you a very clear tip on how toset the slipper up, and I found this to be spot on to start with. Included aretwo spur gears, an 87t spur for modified and brushed and a 75t, which isrecommended for brushless stock motors.Left: Familiar steeringand front end, but nowswamped by that bumper!10/09 WWW.RADIORACECAR.COM 59

Associated SC10 Kit, 1/10th 2WD Short CourseAbove: Adjustable slipper clutch and two spur gears suppliedSHOCKSThe blue alloy shocks use preload spacer clips to alter the rideheight, and filled with 30wt oil they are another trademark Associatedcomponent that provide great performance with minimal maintenance.They go together very well and Associated provide a very useful toolto help fit all of the washers and O-rings into the bottom of the shockbodies. Make sure you don’t lose any of the e-clips though as Associatedonly provide the correct amount needed to complete the kit. One thing Idid find difficult to assemble on the shocks were the ball joint/eyelet onthe bottom of the shock shaft, so it may be worth pre-threading the balljoints with an M3 bolt before you assemble them onto the shock shafts.REAR SUSPENSIONAgain the rear suspension, like the front, has extra long wishbones fromthe T4 along with dog bone driveshafts. The rear hubs are taken from theB4 and are ball raced just like the main transmission and front wheels. Inthe instructions for the turnbuckle construction, it recommends that youset the turnbuckle at 71 mm from ball-cup to ball-cup but this gave therear wheel a ridiculous amount of camber and I ended up setting it to 85mm which looked OK until I put the bodyshell on, when it was obvious thatit needed even more length, so this will be adjusted when the truck is fullyAbove: Despite the extrabumpers and body mounts,there are just three extrascrews to remove, to get at thegearbox for maintenanceAbove: Gearbox contains the world renowned ‘Stealth’ gearboxAbove: The rubber mudflaps,possibly the coolest part on an R/C car…evercomplete. All of the rear suspension parts (including the gearbox) attachto the lower rear chassis plate and brace.The rear shock tower is another tried and trusted component from theT4 truck, but instead of the rear body mounts fixing directly, it now hasanother huge bumper and brace which totally dominates the whole rearend. At first I thought that it would be a nightmare to access the reardrive-train because of this large assembly, but I tried it out when I hadto get to the diff to fit the extra shims andI’m pleased to say that it only requires theremoval of three more screws than normal,amazing! The rear bumper has one ofthe coolest parts I’ve seen in an R/C kitfor years…the rear mudflaps! I’m easilypleased, sure, but they do look very muchthe part. They are the same rubber itemsfound on the SC8 version, but don’t look outof place at all, and just add that extra bitof realism to this kit.WHEELY GOODWhen I first saw these trucks I thought thatone of the good things about them was thehigh profile tyres for a good sense of realism. While theouter profile of the tyre is indeed high, the inner profile ismuch more like a normal buggy tyre and is quite low profileto reduce tyre squirm and improve the drivability. Other thanthat, they do look good from the outside although the silverfinish might end up with a coat of black paint like most of the realSC trucks. The tyres are a ‘block’ pattern suited to loose dirt andfine gravel, which is where these trucks really belong.60 WWW.RADIORACECAR.COM 10/09

Electric Truckrrci featureAbove: On the loose, the scaledriving experience of 2WD reallygrabs your attentionSHELL TIMEAt first I thought it was a shell for an SC8, it is that big! Ittook me ages to think what to do with the shell design, somuch so, that I’d finished the build before I settled onan idea for the shell design! It was a case of whether togo ‘custom’ or ‘scale’. After many nights of research Idecided to go with a scale look, as custom flames andbling just didn’t look right. These trucks are made tolook like the real thing, so it’s only right that they shouldlook the way they should. There will be pre-paintedshells on the way for the SC10 in the future for you togive it that scale look if you don’t have the skills topaint it yourself. I decided to paint it in the Radio RaceCar scheme. It’s only simple colours (apart from theairbrushed RRCi logo), but I think it looks absolutelyspot on, and wouldn’t look out of place on a full sizeCORR grid.ELECTRIC…ORANGE?CML kindly provided the grunt for the SC10 in theform of the new Novak Havoc 3s speed controller,and the Novak ‘Ballistic’ 8.5 brushless motor.The Havoc might not be the smallest speedcontroller around, but it really packs a top-notchspecification. It has a one touch set-up for endpoint setting which is easy to use, as well asmany set-up modes including minimum brake,drag brake, dead band, minimum drive, throttlecurve, brake frequency, reverse disable, motorrotation direction, and a safety low voltagecut off to suit LiPo. In typical Novak fashion allthese parameters are easily identified by different colouredflashing or static lights, and anyone familiar with thepopular Novak range will find their way around the menusin familiar fashion. The fan on top is removable althoughI would recommend leaving it fitted, as these things canget rather warm. The Havoc 3s only has an 8.5 motorlimit so is ideal for the SC10 and the 2WD style of racing.The Novak Ballistic brushless motor is fully rebuildable,as every part of the motor can be stripped formaintenance, and a unique feature is the stator unitencasing the wire sections can be changed from 8.5 upto a 3.5 turn unit without having to buy a whole motor.The motor comes complete with the sensor wire, whichplugs into the socket on the timing assembly, exitingthe motor at 90 degrees so the wires don’t have tobe folded at a right angle. The motor timing is alsoadjustable by twisting the timing assembly and theposition is easily noted with the label on the end ofthe motor.FIRST RUNFor its first run I took my completed SC10 to theMid-East Regional at Broxtowe. I got permissionto run it between the qualifying and finals whenthe track was closed. First some slow runs toget some nice pictures, then it was time forsome fun!With a queue forming of people wanting tohave a go with the SC10 it soon turned froma pleasant ‘blast around’ to see how the truckMiddle: Blue alloy shocks keep the SC10 in checkBelow: The unique battery brace is simplicity in itself…Below: …With quarter turn ‘T-clamps’ they are quick and easy to use10/09 WWW.RADIORACECAR.COM 61

Associated SC10 Kit, 1/10th 2WD Short Courseperforms, to a full-blown big air contest over the triple jumps! The winnerof which ended up being Adam Skelding, getting the SC10 to make allsorts of shapes in the air, and somehow managing to land it…even afterit was sideways and at a 90 degree angle to the ground! Even he wassurprised to see it clear the jumps and land on its wheels.After the fun it was time to get driving. Although it was a grass surfacethe SC10 had a proper CORR look to it. It squats as you accelerateand the suspension really compressed through the turns. It did have atendency to grip roll on this high grip circuit, so maybe a slightly thickeroil in the rear shocks would help, though this isn’t its intended racingsurface, preferring the loose of a proper shale or gravel track. The slipperclutch settings in the manual were a bit light, aimed at a looser surfaceand less grip, so we ended up tightening it two full turns from the kitsettings for dirt/clay/gravel. It was nice to have to learn a new drivingstyle to suit the SC10, and once you hit the power it just wants to snakearound wildly, so you have to feed the power on smoothly and not hit fulltilt until it’s in a straight line.CONCLUSIONIf you’re looking for fun in the park with scale looks and strength builtin then the SC10 is for you. If you’re looking at a serious racer that needsskill to drive but is cheap to run, then this is also for you. BUT! You needto get the word spread around. These trucks are great fun and couldbring lots of beginners into our hobby…it just needs to be seen to beappreciated. Being the type of kit that it is, it can be raced at off road oron road tracks, indoors or out! So there’s no excuse for clubs not to runa class for these. It’ll be a shame if it doesn’t happen, as there are lots ofSC10s around already. They just need a home to race.The SC10 is VERY strong, as it took a huge amount of hammer duringthe jump contest, landing on its sides, rear or nose, along with the oddlanding on its roof, and it is still in perfect condition. The ‘nerf bars’protect the shell brilliantly in side impacts and the shell still looks brandnew. Once the diff shims had been fitted the diff ran faultlessly and wehad no problems concerning the gears stripping, so if yours doesn’thave the extra shims in the kit contact CML. One thing I did find out wasthat the chassis is very exposed, when running the SC10 on a typicalloose surface at the local BMX track, it threw all sorts of rubbish into thechassis and blocked the ESC fan with a small stone. Maybe a clear lexanbuggy body clipped over the chassis beneath the truck shell would helpkeep everything clean.Most of all the SC10 NEEDS a place to be raced. Although there are twoor three clubs already running the SC10s, it needs clubs to form classesfor this type of racing and to keep it ‘stock’. It needs a simple set of ruleswith perhaps a motor limit though simply stipulating that only kit tyresmust be used will limit performance to make motor choice irrelevant.With a level playing field like that, I think this truck could thrive! RRCiAbove: Before I added the coolingfan, the Novak ‘Havoc 3s’ has allthe usual family features and cannow handle 3s LiPo too!Left: The ‘Ballistic’ 8.5Novak motor was more thanfast enough for the SC10Above: The ‘Ballistic’ motor fully stripped downto reveal replaceable sensor and windingsAbove: Electrics installed with plenty of room.Check out the side nerf rails and bumper set-up!62 WWW.RADIORACECAR.COM 10/09

Electric Truckrrci featureBelow: Having a jump off at the regionalswas fun, and a queue quickly formed!QUICK SPECClass: 2WD 1/10th ElectricShort Course TruckType: Self-Assembly Chassis KitManufacturer: AssociatedPrice: £179.99 RRPREQUIRED TO COMPLETESpeed control: Novak Havoc 3sRadio: Futaba 3CVS 2.4 GHzServo: KO PropoMotor: Novak Ballistic 8.5TBatteries: Reedy LiPo 5000 mAhCharger: Prolux Digi-charge 104disLikesNo internal chassis coverNeed places to raceLikesSimple designStrengthFun to driveAE Family DNA2WD Driving StyleCONTACTMore details from CML DistributionTelephone 01527 575349or visit www.cmldistribution.co.uk10/09 WWW.RADIORACECAR.COM 63